Furniture support jointed to frame



April 24, 1951 J. E. SVEDBERG FURNITURE SUPPORT JQINTED T0 FRAME Filed July 18, 1945 INVENTOR. JOHAN ELIAS SVEDBERG 44 Q Ea ATTORNEY UNITED STAT shown).

member each consist of a square frame, the frame Patented Apr. 24, 1951 FURNITURE SUPPORT JOINTED T FRAME Johan Elias Svedberg, Stockholm,f Sweden V Application July 18, 1945, Serial No. 605,720 1 In'Sweden April'19,19 44 a 3 Claims. Cl. 311-110) provide an article of furniture the individual parts of which are adapted to be taken apart so as to call for a' minimum of space in transport, in order then to be erected into a perfectly stable productfby the simplest means.

It is known to retain table-tops, for example, on the frameworkcarrier, by means of blocks located on the lower side between the table-top and the framework. These blocks are secured by means ofscrew bonds, generally in the table-top, and have a projection entering a groove in the framework. The blocks,.however, only have for their object to prevent the table-top from being lifted off the framework, and for this reason they do not contribute to the rigidness of the furniture, special measures being therefore taken to ensure rigidity. In fact, the blocks are adapted to permit a sliding movement between the table-top and the framework, in the plane of the top.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawing which forms a part of this specification, and of which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a cabinet, constructed according to the invention, certain parts being cut away.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through a portion of the cabinet in a plane parallelling the door-side of the cabinet.

In the embodiment according to Figs. ,1 and 2, the cabinet comprises a door H], a top member l2, three side members I 4 and a bottom member (not The top member [2 and the bottom members i6 of which may be rigidly interconnected at the corners in any known manner.- The wood fibre of the various frame members extend in the ordinary manner in the longitudinal direction thereof. Rigidly connected with the frame members is a covering board l8, which may be composed of a number of veneer layers.

Likewise, the side members l4 each consist of a square frame of frame members 20 and a covering board 2 I. The cabinet is delivered from the factory with the abovementioned door, top member, bottom member and. side members in a completely finished but non-assembled state. Since they'are substantially plane and of little thickness, the entire article of furniture calls for considerably less space than if it were erected in the ordinary manner.

The side members, the top memberand the bottommember are joined together by the recipientwith the aid of the means according to the invention. This means consists of an elongated locking bar 22, which is adapted to bear closely against surfaces 24,25 of the'fra-memembers i6 and 2|);respectively, in the right-angled corner formed betweenthese members in the erecting operation. .The bars 22 are connected with the frame members of :they top member and of the bottom member, respectively, by means of screw bonds 28. The bar 22 may be provided with a projection 38 laterally of the contact surface 26, said projection fitting accurately into argroovein v the frame. members '20 of the side members ll.

The frame members iii are each formed with a groove 32, the inner side wall of which is flush with the contact surface 26, and the outer side wall of which is formed by aprojection 36 which doe znot reach asv far as to a' plane coinciding with the surface 24. The frame members 20 are shaped correspondingly, the same fitting into the grooves 32 with projections 38, while the covering boards 2l extend for a distance over the lateral surface of the frame member 15. The side members M will thus form grooves 39 adapted to receive the projections 36 of the frame members l6.

The joining device according to the invention renders the cabinet perfectly rigid. Thus the projections 30 and 36, 38, respectively, prevent relative movement between the top and side members in planes parallelling the faces of the cabinet. Furthermore, the cabinet becomes perfectly stable. inthe diagonal direction, the great surfaces24, 26 of the bars 22, bearing on theframe members [6, 20 cooperating in solving this problem. Thus, if the cabinet is subjected to a diagonal 'pressure in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2, such pressure will be taken up at the surfaces 24, 26 by the bar between the top andside members situated right opposite the bar 22 shown in the figure as well as by the bar situated at the bottom member right beneath the bar shown. As will be seen, the erection of the members may take place without any skilled labour being re- .ouired. The bars 22 are concealed within the cabinet, 'and no joint will be visible in members with untreated external surfaces. A constant intimate contact is ensured between the surfaces 24, 26 of the bars and the respective frame members by the fact that the frames cannot swell and shrink to any appreciable extent under the influence of moisture, inasmuch as the fibres of the frame members always extend in the longitudinal direction. The only transverse wood material having an effect .on 'the contact in consideration is located between the screw bonds 28 and the surface 26. The width of this wood material .is an insignificant fraction, however, of the whole Width of the square frame. In this case, arsufiiciently stable article, of furniture is obtained by arranging bars 22 along theframemembers between the side members and the top member and the bottom member except on the door side.

The cabinet according to Figs. 1 and .2 is provided with a number of drawers 40. These drawers are inserted into grooves 42 in rails 44. The rails 44 "enter in turn into the end portions of grooves 46 on the insides of the vertical frame "members 20. The rails 44 may loosely engage the grooves 46, the :drawers '43 then serving to retain the rails in their proper position. No special operations will be required for this in the assembling of the cabinet.

The-bar 22, which extends along thewhole or the major length of two furniture members to be interconnected, maybe divided into two or more I'elements. :Inplace of screw bonds, it is possible in certain cases'to make use ofnail bonds, even if the :formerare :to be preferred. The bar'22 may 7 be glued to the frame member 20, the projection fiwbeing then omitted,'if desired.

'It will .be understood that the embodiment of :the invention disclosedin the drawin is for purposes of illustration only and that various changes .may be made in the inven'tionwithout departing from the spirit :and scope thereof, and therefore the invention -is :not limited by that which is .showniinthe drawing and described in the specifica'tion' :but only as indicated in the appended :claims.

' WhatJI claim is:

1. ."An article of furniture of the cabinet type comprising-panelsproviding side walls and a top,

.spacedrelation to the outer face of the panel and a longitudinally extending groove disposed between the last mentioned tongue and said outer face, the tongue of each panel being received respectively .in the groove of the other panel, an elongated locking bar extending longitudinally of and engaging the inner faces of both of said frame members, and :means for securing said bar to both of said frame members whereby said panels are locked .together to provid a unitary structure.

2. An article of furniture as defined in claim 1 in which the means for securing the locking bar to the frame members comprises a tongue and groove connection between said bar and one of said membersand screw threaded fastening means for securing said 'bar to the other member.

3. An article of furniture as defined in claim 1 in which the means for securing the locking bar to the frame members comprises an adhesive joint between said bar andone of said members and screw threaded fastening means for securing said bar to the other member.

JOI-IAN ELIAS 'SVEDBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date "183,558 Gwyer Oct. 24, 1876 239,838 Pleukarp Apr. :5, 1881 288,126 Shearman "Nov. 6, 1383 631,750 'Pleukarp Aug. 22, 1899 1636,1434 Kendall .Nov. 7, 1899 1,533,099 Carroll -1 Apr. 14, 1925 2,192,949 Wich Mar, 12, 1940 2,404,182 'Kump July .16, 194:6 

